The Price
by Pachamama9
Summary: After Voldemort's defeat, Draco tries to live a normal life with his wife, Astoria, and his son, Scorpius. But there are those who refuse to let him. One-shot.


_A/N: After the War, Draco tries to live a normal, magical life with his wife and his young son. But those who wish to avenge what happened at Hogwarts can't let him move on._

 _Warnings for violence and gore._

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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"Sure, bud," Draco said, ruffling his son's hair. "You can have ice cream when we get home. But you've got to be done by 8, okay? I don't want you jumping on the bed all night like last night."

Scorpius was only four. He grinned, displaying his missing left front tooth. He'd lost it a little earlier than the rest of his classmates because he'd gotten them earlier as well. "Okay, Daddy!"

Draco scooped up his son in his arms. "We're going to Apparate now, okay? So hold on tight to me and don't let go. Ready?" Scorpius nodded and buried his face into his father's chest. "One." Scorpius clenched his tiny fists into Draco's shirt. "Two." He rubbed Scorpius's back and then wrapped both of his arms around the boy, concentrating fiercely on his destination. "Three." He gripped his son as tightly as he could and Apparated to their home, Malfoy Manor.

After the War, Draco and his mother had walked away free, mostly thanks to Harry. His father had gotten life imprisonment in Azkaban. They had tried to sell the house because of the memories still trapped there, but, as expected no one wanted to buy the house of a former Death Eater and his family. So, they redecorated everything instead. The entire exterior of the house was painted a nice yellow and all of the dark, creepy shutters on the windows were torn off. Draco and his mother, together, painted the front door a beautiful sunset orange.

They repainted the interior walls shades of yellow, gold, and orange as well. The basement, which used to be the dungeon during the War, was stripped of its ugly metal gates, dim lighting, and generally frightening demeanor. Once Scorpius was born, Astoria and Draco had turned into a wide, wonderful playroom for their son. They covered the floor in bright, multicolored, giant rubber puzzle pieces. Draco and his mother got rid of every one of his father's Dark objects. The ones that they couldn't sell, they destroyed. With every year Scorpius grew older, Draco and Astoria dipped his hands in yellow paint and put them on the front door, as well as their own. They always fingerpainted their names above.

When Draco and Scorpius arrived at their front steps, they were directly in front of the paint-splattered, handprinted door. Scorpius poked his little head out and began to relax again, breathing normally. He usually held his breath during the entire process. Draco knew he didn't like Apparition very much, but he hated traveling through the Floo network even more. Last time he'd tried to go to work through the fireplace, Scorpius had screamed and cried until Astoria had to Apparate all the way to St. Mungo's with Scorpius to show him that his father was fine.

Draco shifted Scorpius onto his left hip and reached for his keys with the other hand. Before he could insert his keys into the lock, however, the door swung open. Before him stood a tall, scruffy-looking man with dark circles under his eyes and hands covered in blood. He was grinning. "Following the Dark Lord comes with a price," he growled, and then lunged at him.

Draco's first thought was of Scorpius. He ducked under the man's outstretched arm and ran inside the house. Where was Astoria? He shielded his son with his arms, dodging a Cruciatus curse that sailed over his head. Why in Merlin's name was this man attacking them? He wanted to shoot some spells back at him, but he was too afraid of hitting Scorpius. He let go of his son with one arm to snatch up his wand from his pocket. "Protego!" he cried, just before a blue hex hit him. Draco had not spoken a single offensive spell since the War. He had not planned on—

"Crucio!"

"Finite Incantatem!"

Draco did not know what to do. He had to protect his son, but how? This madman... Draco sprinted upstairs, dodging another curse. He had to... Draco looked up. Simple. He told Scorpius, "Hold tight," and focused hard.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not Apparate. He must have put some sort of spell on the house. He heard the man cackle from downstairs. He seemed in no rush to harm the Malfoy family. He had them trapped in here like animals. Draco locked the door to the library after he ran in. He tried to set Scorpius down on the ground. He had been crying, sobbing into his shirt, and he was still doing it now. "Scorpius, let go," he said, trying to be gentle and trying to rush him to safety at the same time. "You have to let go!" His son reluctantly released him, trying to hiccup away his tears. "Scorpius, you have to listen to me. You remember what I told you to do when someone bad was in the house?" He nodded slowly, sniffing. "Good. Go to Mummy and Daddy's room to our laundry hamper, and you hide there, okay? Put the clothes on top of you and you stay still. No noise, you understand me?"

"Daddy, I'm scared!" he cried, clutching Draco with all of his might.

"I know, buddy, I know," Draco told him, close to tears himself. He had to get them through this. "Just do as I say, got it?"

He nodded, hiccuped twice, and then ran out of the room. Draco then gripped hs wand tightly and went to face his enemy. "Where's my wife?" he growled, meeting the man at the top of the stairs. "What have you done with her?"

He licked his lips. "The pretty one, yeah? She's got a nice scream, that one. And your mother, too. I wonder, does it run in the family?"

Fury blinded him and Draco fired continuous disarming spells at him. He was screeching incoherently, his vision hazed red, until the man limped at him and fired a Cruciatus Curse at him. It penetrated his defenses and sent Draco screaming on the ground—he couldn't think, couldn't breathe, coudn't, couldn't—

He released the curse from him and started to laugh like before, the ugly sound filling the house. "I guess it does!" he cackled. "Does your son sound the same?"

He'd hit Draco in a place where he couldn't even begin to control his emotions. He screamed, "Petrificus Totalus!" and the man froze, his limbs snapping together, and he fell down the stairs, his head hitting the steps on the way down. He disarmed the man, tied him up with a quick binding curse, and sent his Patronus to the Ministry of Magic, alerting them.

Then Draco bolted up the stairs, screaming for his family. "Tori!" he screeched. "Scorpius! Mother!" What if they were dead? What if he had killed them? Scorpius was still alive, right? The thoughts kept racing through his mind as he sprinted through the hallways until he reached his own bedroom. "Scorpius!"

No sound came from the bedroom. No movement from the hamper. "Scorpius, please, it's okay! You can come out!" Nothing. "Scorpius, come here!" He scrambled to the hamper as quickly as he could, ripping the clothes away until he found a tiny, still bundle with Scorpius's shirt and Scorpius's pants and Scorpius's platinum blonde hair— "Oh, Scor," he cried, picking him up and cradling the boy in his arms. "You're safe, you're safe, it's okay now—"

"Can I make noise now, Daddy?" asked the child, looking up. "Is the bad man gone?"

Draco nodded furiously, tears slipping down his cheeks. "Yes, Scor, you can. He can't hurt you now."

"Where's Mummy?"

Draco froze. Astoria. "Come on," he said, even though he was already carrying Scorpius. "We'll go find her."

Where was his own mother? They ran to the bathroom, to Scorpius's room, to the other bathroom, to Narcissa's room, and nothing. Draco heard the crack of Apparition outside the house. Racing down the stairs, he found the dark-haired Harry Potter and two other Aurors at his heels.

"Malfoy," he said, spotting his former enemy and his four-year-old child. "What happened? Is he still here?" Now, the Chosen One was all business.

"There was a man here... He's at the bottom of the stairs. I got him, but my wife and my mum... I can't find them, I—"

"Don't worry, Draco," he said, moving into the house and motioning for his Aurors to follow him. "We'll take care of it." As they moved inside, Potter spun around, walking backwards toward the scene, saying, "Keep your boy away just in case."

Just in case... what?

Draco swallowed hard, clutching Scorpius to his chest. He stroked the boy's soft hair, and kissed his small fingers. How glad he was that his son was still alive, here... Astoria could be inside...

Another sharp crack and Scorpius whimpered, hiding in his father's chest. Draco shielded him again. Two Healers appeared on the front steps, wearing their signature lime-green robes. One he knew as a collegaue, for they worked together at St. Mungo's. The other, he thought, must work in a different section of the hospital. The first, the unfamiliar man with dirty blonde hair and large hands, spoke first. "Let me see your son, Mr. Malfoy. I'll check him for any injuries, or—"

"You are not taking my son," Draco hissed, and he turned away from the man. He did not know him and would not let him anywhere near Scorpius if he could help it.

"Mr. Malfoy, we just—"

A hand touched his shoulder. "Don't touch us!" he roared, and the man backed away. Scorpius was crying again now, and he apologized profusely to his son. He'd only wanted to keep him from being hurt.

"Mr. Malfoy?" said another, the woman he knew. Her name was Healer Krosky. She was a large woman with hazel eyes, and she kneeled before him. "You can keep him in your lap, alright? I won't touch him."

Like a child, he wanted to say, Promise? He reluctantly agreed and turned towards her, moving Scorpius so that he was sitting on his lap, facing the woman. "Daddy," said his son. "I want Mummy."

"I know, I know, Scor. Just look at the lady, okay?"

Healer Krosky nodded in thanks. She said, "Lumos," and waved her wand in front of his face. Scorpius avoided the light, ducking. "Honey, follow my wand."

Draco heard someone Apparate from just outside of the house. As Scorpius squirmed in his arms, he assumed that it was the Aurors taking the madman away. He kissed his son's head as Healer Krosky checked his vitals.

"Mr. Malfoy?" It was Harry Potter. He seemed unnerved. "Mr. Malfoy, I need you to come with me. Healer Jenson and Krosky, I'm going to need you as well. We need to hurry."

"But—Scorpius—"

"Er—" Harry stumbled over his words for once. "Just leave him with Huang. Just come on!"

"I'm not going to leave my son here with—"

"Malfoy, your son cannot see this. Let's go."

Draco impulsively tore away from his son and handed him to the Auror, trying not to listen as he screamed, "Daddy!"

They ran inside the house, and Draco followed close behind. What were they taking him to see? What were they taking him to see? Was Astoria dead? Was his mother—

They were in the kitchen.

They had stopped walking.

There was a woman sprawled across the tile, her dark hair spread like a fan around her head, matted with blood. Her organs were torn out of her body and hanging outside on the tile. Blood ran between the cracks in the tile and spread onto the floor.

The woman was his wife.

Draco screamed. He fell to his knees. The woman was barely breathing, still gasping for air, her eyes fluttering closed, focused barely on the enchanted picture on the wall. "Tori!" She didn't respond to the call.

"Malfoy, this isn't what I took you here to see. Come on." Harry had to drag his friend from the sight and into the butler's pantry. There, what Draco saw made him scream even louder.

An elderly woman lay across the floor of the room, in nearly the same position as Astoria. Although, the woman was not moving. Her insides were scattered across the floor farther than Astoria's. Through Draco's medical experience, he knew the ones that were farthest from her. Her liver, her kidneys, and finally, her heart. They left tracks of red all over the floor. One was even smeared on the wall. Her neck, captured in a beautiful yellow amethyst necklace, was sliced open like a smile, still pulsing out scarlet liquid. Draco knew, medically, how much blood could come from a person, but he didn't know... This much...

He vomited all over the floor beside his mother's body, spewing up his entire dinner onto the tile. Her yellow robes were covered in blood...

He couldn't help but sob, his body shaking harder than it had when he threw up. Tears spilled down his cheeks, saltwater mixing with the blood on his hands as he crawled to his mother's corpse, wading through the pool of blood to get to her face. He touched her cheeks. "Mummy..." he whispered, and then he shouted it. "Mum! Mother, please, Mummy, come back to me, don't leave me, please..." He sobbed more, snot and tears and blood smeared across her face and his. "Mum, I—" The sobs choked him, cutting him off.

Harry let this continue for a few hours until he got a message from the other Aurors. "Malfoy... Draco. Your wife is stable. We have to go to St. Mungo's... You want to see her, don't you?"

The man looked up at Harry. "Tori... She's okay?" His voice was hollow.

"Yes, yes, she should be fine. Come on." Harry moved forward to grab the sleeve of his friend. "Hold on to me, okay?" When Draco grasped his arm, it felt like he was holding on for more than just Side-Along Apparition.

They arrived in front of a Room 465, and were greeted by Healer Krosky. "Mr. Malfoy, your wife will be just fine as long as she makes it through the night."

The blonde man seemed to take in the information, but did not react to it. "Where's my son?" His voice, low and gravelly, sounded more like an attack than a question.

"He's with Auror Huang. He's fine—"

"Where is he?" Draco lunged at the woman, and Harry had to grab him to hold him back.

"He's in the room" —she gestured to the door directly in front of them— "with Astoria. You—"

Draco had already rushed into the room and snatched up his son from the man, shushing him and holding him closely. Harry recognized his own love for his sons and daughter in the way Draco held Scorpius. "Daddy," whispered the boy. "Daddy, Mummy's not waking up."

"She'll wake up soon," he assured him. She'll wake up really soon, don't you worry."

He brought Scorpius to the bedside so that he could hold his mother's hand. Draco tried not to think about the corpse back at home of his... of his... He tried not to think about it. He didn't—

He squeezed his eyes shut and placed his hand over his son's, which was over his wife's. And he wished that he had never become a Death Eater. Because this... this was the price.

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 _A/N: Thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite, and review!_

 _Challenges used:_

 _Fanfiction Writing Month: December [2583]_


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